Ezra- 8 months

This week Brian went back to school... sort of. He only has two classes for the next four weeks and has been home by lunch everyday. So I guess we're easing into this year! Brian has let me go to the gym when he gets home, so I was able to work out four times this week. It's nice getting it done during the day instead of having to wait till the kids are in bed at night. The kids and I kept busy with a few outings this week- splash pad at Carson park with Montagna's and Hobson's on Monday, library story time on Tuesday with lots of friends, and a 50 cent showing of Turbo at the movie theater Wednesday morning (during which Ezra and I both got to sport a lovely coat of his orange spit up through out). I got to go to the relief society service activity on Wednesday night where we made pillows and blankets for kids in need. I always love visiting with the awesome sisters in our ward. On Thursday the kids helped me bake brownies for a funeral... they are always good at licking the spoons and mixer clean! We also had the elders over for dinner. On Friday night we had the Kirkwood's, Pulham's, Thayn's and Maxwell's over for a back-to-school BBQ. It's always so fun watching the kids play together... and the dads who played golf in the park! On Saturday Maybrie got to go Lilly Hay's "Frozen" birthday party, which she loved, of course. We also watched the MacFarland's four kids while they went on a date. We are started a date night/babysitting swap with them where we alternate who goes out each weekend. Today church was really uplifting, especially the relief society/priesthood lesson where we went over President Uchtdorf's talk "Grateful In Any Circumstances." Oh, and I forgot to mention that I got a million bug bites while sitting in the grass talking Monday night. Some people said it could have been chigger bites so I put some clear finger nail polish on them. It helped. Don't know if it was chiggers or mosquitos, I just know I had a very itchy few days and I am so grateful that they are clearing up and the itch finally stopped yesterday!

Ezra turned 8 months old on Monday this week! He is scooting all over the place and getting very fast. He is our little mover, so curious. I'm afraid he is going to be our busy, mischievous child. He loves his baby food and is now enjoying picking up and feeding himself the little puff snacks. He still spits up a lot, and the drooling, fussiness, and shoving everything in his mouth our sure signs that teeth are on the horizon. He has the cutest smile. He is still constantly clobbered by his big brother and sister. I have been able to lay him down awake for his naps and bed for a couple weeks now, which is nice. Oh and he loves the water! He has discovered splashing and thinks the bath tub is the greatest. We love our little mover!

Final week of summer break

On Monday we drove up to the north end of town with Brian to take his laptop to the Apple store and Thomas asked, "Can I have my next prize?" Haha He's just beginning to understand that road trip prizes do not exist while driving around town. We took the kids to Sahm Aquatic Center in Fishers and they had a blast. Beach entry is so fun for kids who can't swim yet. They loved the water slide too. Ezra loves playing in the water also. Brian put our hammock up in the backyard and we all love lounging in it. Thomas keeps asking to put up the "tent"... he doesn't remember the word hammock yet. Maybrie and Thomas have been playing so well together lately. I am wondering how Thomas is going to handle Maybrie going to school all day in a week and a half. 

On Tuesday I took Maybrie to the dentist to have her first filling. She was so brave and did everything exactly as asked. I took her to buy her school supplies and she picked a princess backpack that lights up. When I took her to buy new shoes for school she was not excited about having to pick tennis shoes. She just wanted sparkly sandals! Sorry, school rules! Kind of crazy that I have a child going to school already. The weather has been so nice and cool this week, it feels like fall. We have taken advantage of it and have been playing at the dinosaur park, in the backyard, and Hummel park on Friday.

On Wednesday we went to story time at the library and the new storyteller is very engaging and funny, much better than the lady who recently retired. The kids also got to cash in the rest of their summer reading program points for prizes. That night I got to go to girl's night at a cute old-fashioned ice cream shop called Mrs. Curl's in Greenwood. I love the ladies in our ward and all of the wonderful friends I've made here. I'm also excited to get to know all of the new sisters that have recently moved in for school.

On Thursday we took the kids to the Children's Museum. It's been a while since we've gone, and I wanted to take Maybrie before she starts school. It was definitely one of our better visits... no meltdowns! We saw a show in the Lilly theater for the first time. They put on Disney Jr.'s Mulan. I know the kids loved it because they have been playing Mulan at home the past few days. We were all excited to see the new "Take me there: China" exhibit. The kids were so cute dressing up in the opera house costumes. Thomas still loves the dinosaurs and the "creek" (water table) in playscape. Maybrie is our little artist who is always interested in a session at the art studio. She kept asking me to make pictures with nature this weekend. 

We also got to have the Montagna family and the sister missionaries over for dinner this week. We have slowly been doing little organizational projects around the house and getting things in order. We have had a really great summer break with Brian. He heads back to school for year two tomorrow. These next few weeks will bring many changes to our routine with Brian and Maybrie going to school and Thomas potty training (hopefully it sticks quickly this time). Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Ezra has started scooting around this week! He will be 8 months old tomorrow. Now that he is mobile we have to teach Maybrie and Thomas to keep their little toys and things off the floor and out of Ezra's reach. I'm sure he will be crawling in no time... he is so squirmy and curious! Well, it's back to the old grind tomorrow... wish us luck!

.

The Best Road Trip Ever Part 3

Day 21- drove to Orem, napping, whining, rain, Divergent

Day 22- everyone slept in, Melanie came over with Winston and Sapphire and we went to lunch at Burgers Supreme, visiting while the kids ran around outside, Spencer arrived 

Day 23- Brian hiked Mt. timpanogos, I exercised, swimming and BBQ with extended family

Day 24- went to church with the Lott's, Russian rummy, visiting

Day 25- whacked my shin on the van hitch, blow up water park in the backyard- Maybrie and Thomas loved it, swimming, pizza party, visiting, fireworks

Day 26- swimming, BYU, remodeled Bean museum, creamery ice cream, date to Mt. Timpanogos temple, kids went swimming, Thomas threw up while grandma and grandpa were babysitting 

Day 27- up most early morning with Maybrie (ear ache) and Thomas (throwing up), Brian did baptisms at 5am with Tim, Garrek, Rachel and Grace, sleeping, visiting, swimming, playing with cousins

Day 28- hot air balloon launch in Provo, donuts, said goodbye to Jess and kids, all three kids napped, Traverse Mountain outlets with mom, dinner with cousin Janice Adams and family

Day 29- 4th of July, swimming (with dad!), red, white and blue jello, BBQ  chicken, corn on the cob, card games- Russian Rummy (with dad!) and Dutch blitz, ice cream, visiting, glow necklaces and fireworks at the Lott's 

Day 30- drove to Denver, CO, Thomas loves pointing out windmills, mountains, animals, construction, motorcycles, beautiful drive through mountains, Brian wants to come back on vacation there, chaotic dinner at Ruby Tuesday- Ezra grabs and drops everything, unwinding with House Hunters

Day 31- drove to Kansas City, it was obvious everyone was tired- a lot of whining and fighting, Thomas was a broken record (constantly dropping toys and wanting food, particularly chips), finished reading Divergent, stayed the night with the Stanley's, Ezra and Gemma played, back to humidity 

Day 32- drove home, Missouri, Liberty jail, Independence visitors center (kids loved playing on the horse drawn wagon), I napped, didn't realize I missed lush green and corn fields till I came back to it, laughter, I finally got the 2048 title (and almost made Brian crash with my scream when it happened!), DQ

This road trip was quite the adventure! We drove 85+ hours, through 13 states in 32 days. We got to see everyone in both our families (except for Darin & family who live in Kentucky). We saw some beautiful country, all in probably the most beautiful month of the year. We hit a church history sight on our first day out and our last day heading home. It was amazing to think about the early saints crossing the plains... we drove where they walked. Even though we saw some great places the best part of the trip for me was being surrounded by family and getting to see our kids play with their cousins. Everyone gawked over Ezra and Thomas the most... the babies. I feel truly grateful that we had the opportunity to take this trip to see family and friends. Our trusty mini van ran great... and we put a lot of miles on it... so many we had to have an oil change mid-trip in Utah before heading home! The kids were very well behaved in the car considering the length. They had their moments, but that happens on a normal day outside of a car seat. Ezra probably only cried maybe 1 1/2 hours total. We had quite the system down in the car... Brian drove it all (except for 50 minutes when his eye infection was bothering him) and I wrangled the kids. I fed Ezra, changed diapers, made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, distributed snacks, prizes, and activities, read Divergent aloud to Brian, etc. We usually only stopped for bathroom breaks when we gassed up. It was awesome! I am so happy to say that we not only survived, but truly enjoyed our "Best Road Trip Ever!"